Winning in the trenches, the battle of the boards, boxing out.
Whatever you want to call it, Cooper mastered the art of rebounding this week in the boys 33rd District basketball tournament at Conner High School.
The Jaguars outrebounded their two opponents a combined 73-31 in winning their second straight district title on Friday night with a 69-61 victory over Ryle.
“I’ve done it long enough and been around some really, really good coaches and been part of some really good programs. If you want to win championships, you got to guard somebody in the half court and you got to rebound,” Jaguars coach Tim Sullivan said. “You got to win in the trenches and when you get in those trenches, it’s not for the faint of heart. You better understand that it’s got to be physical so you better hit people, you better create contact and and go get balls with two hands.”
Shaun Pouncy was the driving force in the rebounding battle, his 17-point, 11 rebound performance helping him land 33rd District Tournament MVP honors.
“It’s an everyday thing that coach always preaches,” Pouncy said. “Everyday before a game he writes down win in the trenches. You win in the trenches, you outrebound teams and you have a great chance of winning.”
Pouncy’s spurt in the first quarter met with seven straight points got the Jaguars off and running to a 16-7 lead. Yamil Rondon put an exclamation point on the quarter as he finished it with a 4-point play and a Jaguars 22-9 lead.
“We had fuel in our body. January 12 they beat us by five and I think we came out and wanted it more,” Rondon said. “It was a great game and we just need to keep our team chemistry up.”
Rondon would finish with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Cooper continued to remain comfortably ahead, taking a 34-23 lead into halftime and leading by as much as 17 in the third when an Isaac Brown layup made it 44-27 with 5:01 to play in the frame.
Landon Lorms wasn’t having it. The Raiders senior got cooking, scoring 16 points over the next six minutes of play to turn a 17-point deficit into a 51-48 game with 6:50 to play. The Raiders never say die attitude started to bring back flashbacks of their rally against Boone County in the semifinals on Wednesday.
“Our kids always battle,” Raiders coach Nick Dorning said. “We always talk about being tough and being elite and I don’t feel like there’s anybody tougher. There might be some teams that can match it, but our kids are not intimidated by anybody and play with no fear. Mentally and physically one of the toughest groups I’ve ever coached.”
Cooper collected itself and got back to what got them to this point…defending. The Jaguars locked in on the defensive end and didn’t allow a point the next 3:43 of action, an 8-0 run and turning the game back on their side with a double-digit lead.
“We just got back to what we’re good at and I think our depth helped. Our depth helped us because we were able to run people in when we got in foul trouble,” Sullivan said. “We could play multiple guys and do different things and put different guys on Lorms. Our depth overall takes its toll.”
Ryle was able to get back within six, but it came a little too late as they ran out of time in the comeback attempt. The good news for the Raiders is they’ll live to see another day, headed to the 9th Region tournament as a runner-up and finding out their opponent Saturday morning at the tourney draw. They’ll face either Lloyd Memorial, Covington Catholic or Newport.
“We just need to be who we are and not change that. This team is 19-11 and haven’t seen this many wins in 13 years,” Dorning said. “When we are our best version of us, we feel like we can compete with anybody. We’ll get the kids prepared over the course of the next couple days and let the chips fall where they may.”
Lorms led the Raiders with 26 points, Evan Smith providing a big boost off the bench with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists with Wednesday’s hero Logan Verax chipping in 11 points and two steals.
Cooper enters as a district champ with a potential matchup against either Dixie Heights, Beechwood or Highlands. Why winning this game was at a premium considering the potential matchups for the two.
“This district prepares you for the region, there’s no cupcakes,” Sullivan said. “The 9th Region is always one of the top three regions in the state. You want to go in with a win because you get to control your pick a little bit and draw the pill, but however it works out there’s going to be eight teams in there that can play. There’s teams that can pop you on any given night. It’s March 1st and nothing better than playing March basketball. Greatest month of the year and we’re getting ready to start madness.”
Andy Johnson finished with 25 points and eight rebounds for the Jaguars, a little self reflection yesterday helping him find himself back to his old form when he scored 50 points in the first two games of the season before missing the next 23 games due to injury.
“When I came back it was more about by myself and I was just like, what can I do to get myself better?,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t thinking about the team at all, but I thought about the team this game obviously and it shows.”
Despite the title, Cooper’s celebration was pretty mild, considering what they’re trying to do over the next 10 days.
“To be completely honest, our main goal is to win a state championship. Winning district is cool and all, the community comes out and stuff, but we’re not done at all. Next week is the week,” Johnson said.
All-Tournament Team
JAGUARS 69, RAIDERS 61
RYLE — 9-14-21-17 — 61
COOPER — 22-12-15-20 — 69
Scoring
Ryle (61) — Lorms 26, Smith 12, Verax 11, Coppola 5, DeGroff 5, Smith 2
Cooper (69) — A. Johnson 25, Rondon 17, Pouncy 17, Combs 4, Brown 4, I. Johnson 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Ryle 22/57, Cooper 26/48
3-Pointers: Ryle 3/14, Cooper 6/13
Free Throws: Ryle 14/18, Cooper 11/21
Rebounds: Ryle 19, Cooper 38
Assists: Ryle 7, Cooper 11
Turnovers: Ryle 8, Cooper 15
Steals: Ryle 6, Cooper 6
Blocks: Ryle 1, Cooper 5
Fouls: Ryle 22, Cooper 14
Records: Ryle 19-11, Cooper 22-8